River Valley Garden Club Grows a Love of Hands-On Learning
The Garden Club at River Valley School started as a seed in the form of a Boy Scout project. A former student wanted to build raised garden beds between Oakwood and River Valley as part of his Eagle Scout project, creating a new learning environment that would go on to teach students new skills, create a love of learning, and even feed the community.
The club is offered in both the Fall and Spring sessions with 10 weekly club meetings. Each session has seen growing participation over the years with about 35 students with almost an equal number of 2nd graders and 3rd graders, as well as an equal split of boys and girls.
Students in the Garden Club learn a wide variety of skills related to plant science and gardening. They explore what plants need to grow, how to properly care for a garden, and the differences between fruits, vegetables, and flowers.They learn about seeds through videos and guided exploration, and they investigate how plants grow both outdoors and indoors using a hydroponics system. They also learn about plant propagation and how new plants can grow from existing ones.
Recently, the club and school garden has been nurtured and supported by staff members like teachers Doug Birk and Bridget Fiore who have sponsored the club for seven and four years respectively.
“Students actively work in our school garden, plant and care for seeds in the classroom, manage our hydroponics system, and even take nursery pots home to continue caring for their plants,” said Birk. “The majority of learning happens through direct experience, allowing students to apply what they learn in meaningful, real-world ways.”
While students and staff are the main keepers of the garden, a great partnership with the Lemont Community Garden Club ensures that the plants keep growing and even find ways to serve the community. During the summer months, the Lemont Garden Club tends the garden and when the vegetables are ready for harvesting, they are picked and given to a local food bank. The garden has provided hundreds of pounds of vegetables for the food bank each year.
When school starts, the harvesting shifts from going to the food bank to the members of the Garden Club to take home after meetings. The students get to find interesting recipes that include their favorite fruits and vegetables which become the Garden Club Recipe book, a fun collection to get to take home at the end of the session.
“We really love observing how much our club is bringing joy to our students but especially some of our autistic and special needs students,” said Fiore. “The club is a wonderful and inclusive environment and students really love the high energy fun meetings and hands-on activities.”
Garden Club is more than an opportunity for students to get their hands in the dirt and learn about plants. It is a place that fosters responsibility, patience, teamwork, and problem-solving while building a strong sense of community for its members.
“Garden Club is important to us because it provides meaningful, real-world learning experiences that go beyond the classroom,” said Fiore. “Students are able to connect science concepts to something tangible and exciting — watching something they planted grow and thrive while they really take ownership of their learning.”
“It is important to me on a personal level because it gives me the opportunity to connect with students around these topics in a different setting,” added Birk. “I especially love that it allows me to see former students again in an afterschool club environment. Building those continued relationships means so much and it’s always so nice to pass those students in the hallway, share a smile, and say hello!”